Reviews with content warning for Violence - Mexican Gothic

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

547 reviews

caseybones's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Initially reminiscent of The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Haunting of Hill House, before becoming more like something out of Alien crossed with Interview with a Vampire. Things moved slowly for the first half of the book but picked up in the second half, turning into a full sprint by the last couple of chapters. Not my favorite pacing but I couldn’t put the book down once

Francis reacted so strongly to Noemi’s speculation about arsenic leeching out of the walls

and I started to get an idea of what might be going on.

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lou_loo's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I had very high hopes for this book and I have to say I'm a bit disappointed.
By no means was it bad, but it wasn't as good as I expected.
I would say my main takeaway was the atmosphere. I'd been told this book had a distinct eery and gothic atmosphere, yet I couldn't find it, it felt like the only atmosphere there was to see was mould and mouldy wallpaper.
The writing style wasn't bad by any means (I had already read Gods of Jade and Shadow by S. Moreno-Garcia, and I loved it), but it didn't feel adequate for the mood she was trying to construct.
The plot and the intrigue were super interesting though, I was trying to understand what was going on and felt compelled to read until the end to find out even with the lack of the atmosphere I was searching for. I also feel like the characters were well-developed at first, but didn't evolve much throughout the book. The situation Noemi was in was getting increasingly worse and worrying, yet she didn't seem much troubled by it.

Even if these elements took me out of the story and the vibes during my read, I have to say that I still enjoyed reading it and I will read more books by Silvia Moreno Garcia. I could recommend this book, but not for someone looking for a gothic and eerie vibe.

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laur_o's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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mypoormeatball's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This was a truly excellent example of horror exploring patriarchy, white supremacy, imperialism, cycles of abuse both personal and systemic, AND how those cycles can begin to be broken. All wrapped up in a deliciously intriguing mystery with a touch of romance — a truly epic haunted house story. I think this book will be taught in colleges someday to students studying postcolonial and intersectional novels.

While some of the symbolism is a bit on the nose, I think that’s in the legacy of great haunted house novels!

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ameronie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

first 60% were awfully slow but the rest made up for it. eerie and thrilling but overall structurally unbalanced (which seems to be a general issue i tend to have with moreno-garcias novels)

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